Cool. We basically traded Risamaru for Fuku-chan, and I'm good with that. Fuku will get the role during lives and the sort of songs that heretofore went to Risamaru, and she'll handle all of it with greater talent and charisma. It's a win for everyone. Well, maybe not for Risa, but whatever.

Oof! That's a lot of great songs that I couldn't vote for.

Thanks. Super Duper Sugar Power sounds somewhat weird, unfamiliar, but also kind of familiar? lol. The chorus goes hard idol route again, could have seen Country Girls doing that. Not bad in general. Yeah, it's kind of a H!P - Kpop hybrid. The verse and 1st half of the B-melody is Kpop, and the 2nd...

Here are the B-sides:

Super Duper Sugar Power


Uttoushi!

Well this is working out well.

I've been so out of the loop that I completely missed this when it was announced, lol. Their last two are among my favorites, so I'm pretty pumped for this.

I wonder if this is a case of UF doing Risa a solid and letting her "leave" as opposed to suffering the professional embarrassment of not having her contract renewed. I actually liked a couple of her more recent songs, but she has neither the talent nor personality to hang with what M-line...

Almost six months to the day of her leaving Biyo. I wonder if their "agreement" included a 6-month no compete?

Also, do we know who's producing Reve Pocket? There's nothing in the the group's Twitter bio that mentions it, and not much about the group online. Anyway, I hope they're good!

Rosy definitely needs their Roko, but I think they have a few girls who will blossom into good singers with a year of H!P schedule and big-girl group vocal training. That doesn't help them right now, though. Here's the thing: the most obvious selection for that role is Niina, and that's the last pla...

The application period ended yesterday, so the auditions can begin. We'll probably have results around New Year's Day.

DonJuan wrote: ↑Sun Sep 01, 2024 10:41 am But I have to say, might be a weird thing coming from an H!P fan - the costume department was probably on sleeping pills because most of these outfits were boring af

Who gave Yokoyan the t-shirt with "I Got A New Slant" on it?

I've been wanting her to ditch that 80s Scott Baio hair for a while.

Is it just me or is Rin Hashisako's new look channeling Takeuchi? I didn't know who the hell she was for like half of their first song.

August 25th "Altair" show.

The Hello Station YT channel just premiered the ALL OF US show from August 24th in its entirety. It's just a single shot from the back of the hall, but still pretty cool that they'd make a full recent concert public. I caught the last 20 minutes or so, but it looks like it's up for good. I'm watchin...

It's crazy how all 21 songs got at least one vote. With like four people voting, lol!

I don't think there's a problem with celebs being "well mannered" in and of itself (and probably less so in the idol world) but MM probably takes it to an extreme. My old band had a reputation for being pretty wild -- a Detroit News article called us "the most dangerous band in Detroi...

The covers are, per usual for OCHA, quite good.

Lim A


Lim B


Lim SP


Reg A


Reg B

I was wondering if MM would get a new album soon, as 2024 is their assigned album year based on the three-year cycle. Their last two albums have been among my favorites, so I'm pretty pumped for this.

Really good. Nice concept, cute girls, well danced. But so far gone from the H!P that I grew to love haha. This could be a random idol group to me. I got a very Beyooooonds vibe from this, especially in the instrumental arrangement and the outfits. The slight marching band feel in the drums and hor...

B-sides! Erik Lidbom is getting a lot of H!P work this year with Tokyo Blur, Kodou OK?, Seishun Exabyte and now "Super Duper Sugar Power." I like the first two a lot, not so much the third. Sounds like this is gonna be very upbeat and very cute, but this is H!P so watch it be a ballad lol!...

"Kodou OK?" PV has dropped: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV7QEDEHm-I This is the most H!P sounding track of the three, as the recent trend of KPop seeping into the company's music is on full display with this single. What do you notice about the composers and arrangers? Baby Spider Lyri...

I listened to her previous solo releases today, and I think Murotan is a prime example of an idol who really needs to be part of a group to excel.

As part of Tower Records' TV DAYS promotion, "The☆Peace!," "LOVE Namida Iro" and "Yeah! Meccha Holiday" will be released on 7-inch vinyl on Record Store Day (Nov 3rd).

http://www.helloproject.com/news/17720/

Kishimon (along with Angerme super-fan Kohei Dojima) got a feature on the latest single from Masaya Matsumuro, "La Ta Ta ~Everything is Feeling~ feat. Kohei Dojima & Yumeno Kishimoto"

His channel is pretty good, and he's just posting his opinion. In this case, he's working from the POV of the global market, and in that context Psy is a one hit wonder. If this was specific to eastern Asia, he obviously wouldn't qualify.

New Idol Group Alert! Welcome to the world of Phantom Siita . This popped up in my YT mentions today, and while I usually roll my eyes at "dark" idol groups, I gave it a listen for some reason, and I'm glad I did because they're really good. Great vocals and music that, while on the dark s...

Fan cam of Gocchin performing CLAP CLAP:

Today be the Day of Lists, apparently, and Rick Beato dropped his Top 20 One Hit Wonders of the 2010s. Since I'm posting it here, y'all know who's number 1, lol.

That's interesting, and it kind of tracks with my memory of that decade, although it's entirely possible that my memory is biased by the fact that I discovered J-pop in 2000, and I rank the songs that made me a fan of the genre higher. Whatever the reason, I think that late-90s through mid-2000s Jpo...